Blackberry Skies
by cordyyceps
Summary: She can't even tell if Max is listening at this point, but frankly she doesn't care because she swears that she can see the universe in Max's eyes, and that's just enough.


By the first few drags of her joint, Chloe's already feeling the effects of the weed. And it's some good shit too, she realizes.

Blackberry, the strain is called; Justin said it was supposed to keep her happy—keep her focused, and Frank just happened to have some in stock. So how could she just deny the stars all aligning in her favor? (she doesn't)

It hasn't failed her yet as she takes a long look at Max lying next to her, focusing on her face and the way the moon's light cradles her jawbone and accentuates every single freckle littering her face—fuck, she's already high.

Chloe wanted to see the stars tonight, and practically begged Max to come with her, promising for "Some class-A type shit".

And thankfully, the gods are in her favor tonight too because the sky looks fucking gorgeous.

They're both lying on the hood of her truck, the residual heat still radiating from the drive up. Not that either of them mind, though, the heat feels good against the cool air all around them.

"What?" Max says, eyes furrowed, curiously looking at Chloe "Your joint." She tips her head, gesturing to Chloe's fingers.

Chloe shakes her head, breaking the trance she had put herself in. "What? wha?" she says, utterly confused while taking a long, final drag of the joint before butting the roach on the hood and throwing it to the grass below.

Max frowns at the action, "You've been staring—What's up?"

"Fuck. Um, sorry. Everything looks hella fucking rad right now." Chloe says, arms out reaching towards the sky, but her eyes continually locked on Max.

Max laughs, "Chloe Price, are you _really_ hitting on me right now?"

"Bite me, nerd. I'm in a good mood" Chloe says, tapping the empty space of the hood next to her, "come here, now you got me feelin' all cuddly and shit. Look what you do to me."

Max smiles, "You're _high_ " still, she doesn't hesitate when she scoots up next to Chloe.

Chloe knows she can feel every point of contact between the two as she lets Max's head settle onto her chest. She brings up a loose hand and entangles it in Max's hair. _So fucking soft_

Her attention stays on the stars though, her mind wandering through the idea of the world around them, and a world different than Arcadia Bay. She feels Max's hands draw idle shapes onto her slightly exposed stomach.

"Do you ever think about time?" It's a stupid question, Chloe realizes, considering Max literally can manipulate it, "Fuck, I mean, like isn't it weird that the stars we are looking at, we are seeing them as they were in the past?" She backtracks herself trying to clarify, but she's not really sure if she's making any sense.

Max cocks her head upwards, looking at Chloe, "What do you mean?" She doesn't stop tracing the shapes.

Chloe thinks for a moment, trying to collect her thoughts that keep firing in rapid succession. Staying focused is always hard when she thinks about things in relation to Max. "Well, we are never really looking at a star in the present moment, like, by the time the light would reach the star—light years and all that shit, enough time would have passed to have killed it or somethin'" She smiles, "Isn't that fuckin' dope?"

Max laughs, and Chloe feels every vibration echo through her body, "And you call _me_ a nerd? Where did you learn this stuff, anyway?"

Chloe notices that Max is practically _glowing_ , and doesn't feel the need to lie tonight, "If you laugh, I swear we can never cuddle again, and you'll have to go to Wumbo, and you know he's probably a fifth as fucking comfortable as me." She says smirking, with her pinky out reached. A part of her really hopes Max doesn't laugh.

That's one thing that's always stayed consistent with the two—You never break a pinky promise. And with a slight shove at Chloe's comment, Max meets her halfway and wraps her pinky around Chloe's, her face looking flushed and serene as they lock eyes, "Promise."

Chloe feels the inevitable heat rise to her cheeks. She wants to hate this hold that Max has over her. "I uh, stumbled on hella space shit when I was trying to research your power." she admits, looking back up at the sky. "It's all really insane."

Max reaches out and grabs Chloe's hand, their fingers dancing for a bit before she weaves them together, squeezing her hand slightly. Chloe can't really complain at Max's forwardness, so she just smiles. "That's sweet Chloe, _you're_ sweet. thank you."

Chloe doesn't think she deserves the thanks. After all, it was the least she could do considering that Max had willingly put her life at risk to save Chloe and the others. _How does the two even compare?_ Still, she appreciates Max's compliment. "Don't mention it, bud."

Just as Chloe is about to direct her attention back at the stars, Max shifts, curling closer into Chloe's half embrace. "Tell me more?"

And so she does.

Chloe eagerly talks about space and time and how each star in the sky is larger than the sun of their own Earth. Each factoid rolls off her tongue like clockwork, and Max (hopefully) is eating it right up.

She can't even tell if Max is listening at this point, but frankly she doesn't care because she swears that she can see the universe in Max's eyes, and that's just enough.

She doesn't feel insignificant.

By the time Chloe is done talking, her voice is hoarse, her spirits high. She finds that her feelings of compassion and thanks are practically oozing out as Max clings to her. She hopes it isn't obvious as she squeezes Max's hand.

Chloe notices that Max's eyes don't falter when she says, "You know after all the stuff we've gone through, I'm happy about _this._ "

Chloe _knows_ she isn't talking about the stars, so she lifts her head down and plants a kiss onto Max's forehead, mumbling "You know it's too late to get rid of me, Caulfield", smiling as she says on soft skin, "you couldn't, even if you tried."

"You know I'd never try." Max says, moving her head upwards and ghosting her lips directly under Chloe's.

Chloe wonders what the stars would say to them if they could speak. 


End file.
